The helical macroorganism form of Bacillus subtilis consists of highly ordered parallel arrays of long division-suppressed cells, built of a hierarchy of helices according to an unusual geometrical plan. High resolution time-lapse films indicate the manner in which helical macrostructures are produced. Starting with a thin, long filament, a torque arises within the structure which drives writhing and eventually folding. Folding leads to contact, forming a hairpin-like structure that immediately begins to helically wrap together to form a tight cohesive structure. At the same time the entire structure increases in length at an exponential rate and undergoes another sequence of writhing and folding. Each fold is of the same helix band as the entire structure which means that the individual strands may pack together in close array during the tightening down of the helical wrapping. The developmental pattern is reiterated until a short-fat multistrand structure results. The genetics, physics, and developmental biology of this system are under study. In addition, molecular genetics experiments involving cloning using the pUB 110 plasmid in our strains is being pursued. Recombinant plasmids pNM1, pNM2, and pNM3 have been obtained in an initial shotgun experiment. These plasmids are currently being investigated.